THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK… WITH THE HELP OF THE STATE! THE BACKGROUND

By : Liam Deegan
The last British soldier left Southern Irish shores in 1922 and as many would say, with it went the end of a savage empire and good riddance to it. However, 2017 has seen the return of British Security forces personnel and loyalist paramilitaries to the very heartland of this country and with it a very serious diplomatic problem for the state according to allegations made by sources who were close to event.

No individual names for the UK and Northern Ireland based eviction team or any of the other security companies in this report are used in this report as it could create a dangerous and life-threatening situation however all of the individuals in the eviction process have been clearly identified by sources close to them. Photographs are also intentionally blurred for the above reasons.

This report has uncovered a disturbing and ominous means of family home evictions now being undertaken by the banks, the County Registrars, County Sheriff’s and An Gardaí, but most especially with the Courts Service operating under the already disgraced Department of Justice and Equality. In effect, what has happened is that a new version of the “Black and Tans lite” is the new weapon of choice for the authorities responsible for evictions of families from their homes at the behest of the banks.

We all know that any mention of the Black and Tans is a very emotive one for many Irish people, however we must put the finger of blame fairly and squarely on the Banks, the government and those that aid them in this shameful act of betrayal that is foisted upon vulnerable men, women and children.

Ireland is in a truly sorry state, in that the Department of Justice and Equality, the Courts Services and their agents have adopted the tactics of some of the most notorious and evil individuals to have ever set foot in Ireland. It is clearly the intention of this and previous governments to deprive families of a home while adding them to the growing list of people made intentionally homeless by government policy.

THE EVICTION
The couple who were evicted did not want their real names or address used in this report.
Paul and Karen, live in Cork along with their five young children. The couple fell behind in their mortgage repayments as did thousands of other families through no fault of their own. Paul and Karen were not deserving of the shameful treatment that was to shortly face them.

In October 2017 Paul, his wife and his children were aggressively evicted from their family home by a team of up to 24 UK and Northern Irish based bailiffs, most of whom are alleged to be currently serving and ex-members of the British Army, the PSNI, and the Northern Irish Prison Service and who were acting as bailiffs for the Cork County Sheriff and the Courts Service, who it is alleged employed them.

This UK and Northern eviction team were supported throughout the process by ex-members of both An Garda Siochana and the Irish Defence forces micro managing the eviction process on another family once again.

According to local reports, the Cork County Court Messenger, the County Sheriff, a large number of Gardaí and the UK and Northern bailiffs turned up at Paul and Karen’s home at 11am or thereabouts and broke into the house while the family were out.

It is alleged that the Gardaí entered the house along with the Sheriff, while the security team also entered the house and other members of the team locked down the perimeter using male and female dog handlers and their guard dogs. The female dog handler is one of whom are alleged to work for the Prison Service of Northern Ireland. The bailiffs wearing mobile CCTV cameras then planted anti-intrusion perimeter devices and CCTV cameras to protect the surrounds of the house as well as automatic shutter devices on the windows. It is also alleged that the house had been under surveillance for a number of days in order to ascertain the movements of the family in and out of the house.

It is further alleged that the Cork County Sheriff, the Court Messenger and senior Gardaí had locally met with a representative of KBC Mortgage Bank in advance to plan the eviction details as well as meeting with directors of a security company who it is further alleged micro managed the actual eviction itself. Sources allege that one security company involved had been at the centre of a now of controversial that saw many locals and protestors arrested and jailed for protesting against the against a major oil corporation in the west of Ireland. It is further alleged that this security company was also employed and involved in providing surveillance on anti-water protesters several years ago.

The bailiffs were backed up by several members of An Garda Siochana on their arrival at the house. Sources allege that G4S security were once again involved with the initial subcontracting of the security contract to the two Irish based security services contractors, however this has not been confirmed or denied by any party involved in the eviction.
What is quite clear is the involvement by the Gardaí in support of the continued occupation of the family home by the Northern and UK based bailiffs, and this became very apparent when Paul eventually returned to the house to pick up his children’s clothes.

Paul was arrested by up to ten members of local Gardaí and backed up by the Armed Support Unit within twenty minutes of a call being made by the Northern Irish bailiffs. Paul was almost immediately taken to court after the DPP set up a special court hearing and charged him with trespass. The judge eventually set him free after he had signed a bail bond and reluctantly agreed not to return to the house, to which he didn’t.

What is more shameful in this day and age is the fact that five innocent young children were left standing on the side of the road, unable to get access to school uniforms, toys and day to day clothing while their mother begged with the Northern security team to get access to same, their home now under siege by men and women dressed like stormtroopers that the children probably only ever saw on sci-fi movies.

More heartbreaking was that these terrified and innocent children had to attend school in the same clothes the following day, open to be ridiculed by their classmates, neighbours and friends all knowing the situation by now and completely traumatised by the events of the previous day.

Later, a local solicitor attempted to intervene on behalf of the family and was successful in negotiating the retrieval of some clothes for the children. In the interim the family were put up by family and friends and that remains the case to date.

In a distasteful turn of events, Individuals close to the evicted couple allege that the KBC Mortgage Bank representative had directly harassed, threatened the family in a series of telephone calls made to the couple during the eviction and even up to very recently. This was the extremely harrowing and traumatic for the whole family according to sources who were constantly with them during the horrific events.

This family were now the testbed for the new method of intimidation and aggressiveness by the Banks and Courts Service, obviously believing that the Black and Tan method would send a message out to those prepared to stand up to them during the eviction process.

HIGH COURT PROCEEDINGS
Paul and Karen had taken high court proceedings in the form of an injunction against the eviction order. The family and others who have seen the affidavits have since alleged that the affidavits handed to Judge Paul Gilligan in the High Court were fundamentally flawed and misled the judge into refusing the injunction.

In a further Affidavit from the bank’s barrister, an ex-parte motion was sought by KBC Mortgage Bank to increase security at the family home as they feared that attempts to take back the family home by people concerned with the family’s welfare was about to happen. The order was duly granted by Judge O’Connor in the High Court and security beefed by even further by the Northern Bailiffs. There was and had been no attempt or threat to enter the house or land by any party, according to local sources.

Investigations into the eviction of the family reveal a very serious departure by the authorities from their “existing business model” by introducing a much more dangerous element than has been previously used in the eviction process by the Courts Service and the County Sheriff’s.

The Courts Service are clearly complicit in introducing parties who are reported to be serving and ex-members of the UK security forces and those with alleged East Belfast paramilitary links, into an already simmering situation that is the eviction process.
This journalist has seen a list of the individual’s names, UK & Northern Irish phone numbers of the twenty-six-person bailiff team directly involved in the eviction itself. One Northern Irish source when contacted has alleged that some of the bailiffs involved are understood to have been directly recruited from East Belfast.

DISTURBING EVENTS
In what is also a very disturbing development in this story, is that ex-members of An Garda Siochana are reported to be the “link men” and recruiters for these individuals. One report alleges that an ex-member of An Garda Siochana living in the west of the country has entertained the same Northern based bailiffs on more than one occasion at his own home and has been seen socialising with them on several occasions. This individual is also alleged to have worked overseas for a notorious major American security contractor in the past as have some of the bailiffs.

It quite clear that some retired members of An Garda Siochana are actively involved and in fact run the eviction processes that happens throughout the country on behalf of the Court Service and ultimately the banks. The public image of An Garda Siochana is already shattered, but thanks to some of its retired members is now further tarnished by allegations of collusion with British state security forces while operating as state sanctioned court bailiffs in this country.

It is perhaps noteworthy that this story is in a similar vein to the now notorious attempted eviction in Corofin in County Clare last year, whereby a team of bailiffs consisting of serving Irish Army personnel and other security personnel, led by ex-Garda detective Michael Murphy attempted an illegal eviction on a man’s home and backed up by Gardaí, one of whom took an active part in the attempt, as was clearly seen on video taken on the day by the Anti-Eviction groups.

The video has been viewed on YouTube just under three and a half million times worldwide and is still available for viewing on many Facebook pages and YouTube.

WHO IS TO BLAME?
It is very clear where the blame lies for the use of alleged British security services personnel and loyalist paramilitaries in this eviction and that blame lies firmly at the door of the Department of Justice and Equality, the Courts Service and the Cork County Sheriff and KBC Mortgage Bank in this case as they are ultimately responsible for undertaking all aspects of every execution order including the security aspect.

One individual with an interest in the case commented that “this is the last resort for the Courts Service, County Registrars and the County Sherriff’s as their backs are to the wall, and given and that no legitimate Irish based security company wants to get involved in the eviction process after that amateur attempt in County Clare last year. She went on to say “That they have nowhere to go after this one. The Courts Service and the Sherriff have taken the eviction game down to a very dangerous level and it will come back to bite them.”

Further to last years attempted eviction in County Clare, a security company run by a Galway based individual set up a London brass name plate address for a new security company and has been seen to continue to work in an area of the security industry that is shameful at the very least. This individual and his partners were also involved in the attempted eviction of Tommy Collins in Corofin and another family home in Cloonlara last year according to sources.

The Galway based security company director is a known tax defaulter and was named in the Revenue Commissioners quarterly tax defaulter list for failing to make any tax returns. In an almost laughable and ironic turn of events, this individual is alleged to have set up a “Go Fund Me” page to raise funds for a sleepout for the Homeless in Galway. His Go Fund Me page has since been deleted after anti-eviction groups found his page online.

When contacted by a member of the Anti-Eviction Taskforce the individual initially denied any involvement but eventually conceded that he was involved in the most recent eviction of the family from their home. However, this particular individual and his company are one of many security companies involved in eviction management “but they are only small fry in comparison to the UK and Northern Irish based bailiffs that have arrived on our doorsteps”, according to the Anti-Eviction Taskforce when contacted for a statement on the event.

According to other groups involved in the anti-eviction campaign, a spokesperson stated that “We know exactly who was involved in the Paul and Karen’s eviction and every one of these players are well known to us and the other groups involved in saving families from eviction at this stage. These individuals can expect to be publicly named and shamed if they continue to play a part in the eviction process, so they can’t say that they haven’t been warned. The battle is going to be taken to their own doorsteps, where their neighbours, family, friends and the public will know what nastiness they are involved in. They show no mercy so why should we?

The spokesperson also went on to say, “On-going investigations into the link between four retired members of An Garda Siochana who are also alleged to co-ordinate the eviction process throughout the country (from a security point of view) are also underway and these individuals will be named and publicly shamed in light of what they do.”

DIRTY WORDS
Family home evictions are dirty words and an equally sweep it under the carpet ploy, cleverly ignored by politicians, many of whom also share the blame here. Just as they ignore the families living in cars or tents in the Phoenix Park or the man or woman wrapped up in cardboard in the doorway on Kildare Street or any other city, town or village in the country. However, there can be no ignoring evictions from family homes and the people in authority wholly responsible for them.

How can the system be equitable given that Judges, County Registrars and Sheriffs are in debt, in some cases to the tune of hundreds of thousands to the very same banks that they often give a judgement in favour of or carry out an eviction on behalf of?

Perhaps an in-depth investigation into the lifestyles of these individuals is warranted to reveal what grip the banks and other elements have over their decision-making ability and process in relation to giving an eviction order and carrying out an execution order.
Serious questions must also asked of the local senior Garda management and more essentially the Minister and the Department of Justice and Equality, when they (Gardaí) actively participated in the pre-planning and management of the execution order along with the Northern bailiffs, and most likely in the full knowledge and awareness of their alleged military and paramilitary backgrounds. Evictions are essentially a civil matter and the Gardaí are only required to be in attendance should a breach of the peace occur. This was clearly not the case for the Gardaí who attended the eviction and actively took part and continue to take part in the process.

Homelessness is the buzz word doing the rounds right now in cases of rent arrears or landlords using the “need to renovate” excuse, however the country will be facing a far greater homelessness crisis if 32,000 more families in serious mortgage arrears are cruelly evicted onto the streets with nowhere to go. That is 32,000 households – an average of 130,000 more men, women and children extra, potentially sleeping under cardboard on the streets.

Where are the government going to house these families? The answer is nowhere… You are on your own as are over 8,000 other homeless people living in temporary accommodation, in cars or on the streets will attest too.
3,194 of these homeless people are innocent children!
Words on a report such as this will never do justice to the terrible injustices happening behind your backs. The Government departments mentioned in this report and their hired agents have developed an appetite for intimidation using physical assaults, while thriving on people’s fear and publicly adding to embarrassment of being evicted from their homes while doing it in true Black and Tan style!

Why should the banking system be allowed to use valuable and taxpayer funded state resources to carry out evictions on their behalf when evictions are clearly a matter of complete responsibility for the banks themselves? Without State intervention, evictions don’t and won’t work…

The use of state resources in these matters needs to be stopped immediately and the banks suffer let the consequences when it goes wrong instead of hiding behind the protective cloak of the state.

An individual close to the Paul and Karen’s eviction put it all in perspective when he stated: “Let us send ex-members of the Defence forces and retired Gardaí who want to play at being security men to East Belfast to try evict a family from Sandy Row and see how that works out for them!”